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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30049788">More Than Our Circumstances</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_Herondale/pseuds/Rose_Herondale'>Rose_Herondale</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Last Hours Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Post-Book 2: Chain of Iron, SERIOUSLY DON'T READ IF YOU HAVENT READ COI, SPOILERS FOR CHAIN OF IRON, background jordelia, background lucie and jesse, because there's not enough written about them, chrace?, christopher is a wonderful human being, grace and christopher fluff, gracetopher?, i forgot their ship name, lab scenes, merry thieves being idiots, nope but one can dream, that one scene from coi where they actually interacted and i died, would this actually happen?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:41:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,469</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30049788</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_Herondale/pseuds/Rose_Herondale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>COI had me wishing for more of these two, and because the book is still living rent-free in my head I wrote this. Grace must face the repercussions of her confession as well as Christopher's determination to help her. The first chapter is just Grace and Christopher. Second, is a Grace and Thomas scene as well as the end of her trial (you can skip this one if you feel like it). Final chapter is a true Grace and Christopher scene that has been living in my mind for a week. Enjoy!</p><p>~~She let him rest his palm in hers and ducked her head to hide the tears that rose up. “Please go, Christopher. Nothing you say or believe will change the fact that I have ruined everything.”<br/>There was silence before he stood up, still holding her hand. “I don’t care what you say, I will find a way to help you.” And with that, he let go and left.~~</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cordelia Carstairs/James Herondale, Grace Blackthorn/Christopher Lightwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Sanctuary</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sanctuary had a fire lit, but Grace still felt cold. It was seeping outward from her heart, numbing her extremities and her mind. The Silent Brothers had brought her there instead of the Silent City which Grace thought was odd. It should have been clear immediately to them that she was a criminal. Maybe it was the fact that she was young lady unfit for the true imprisonment of the Silent City. Maybe the sanctuary was just a holding cell until they moved her to the Gard in Idris.</p>
<p>She heard the door to the Institute open but didn’t look up. If it was a Silent Brother, she did not want to see their grotesque faces. If it was another Shadowhunter, she did not want to see their disappointment though she deserved it.</p>
<p>Instead, Christopher Lightwood sat down beside her on the bench. Grace felt him looking at her, but she did not return his gaze. She would only be reminded of the kindness he had shown her in his lab and how she betrayed that. In another world, she felt they could have been great friends.</p>
<p>“I’ve been sent to tell you that Charles had broken his engagement with you.” His voice was soft and quiet as he spoke. Grace admired that he went straight to the point.</p>
<p>Her mouth quirked into the tiniest of smiles. “That’s good. He did what I asked of him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>--Night before</p>
<p>
  <em>She was surprised that Charles had even come at all. Her effect on him would have dissipated in the time that he didn’t see her, and he must have heard what she confessed to. His eyes spoke that he was furious.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“How could you do it?” Charles’s voice cracked. He wasn’t heartbroken, of course. He had never truly loved her. But the thought of how this scandal would affect his political career was surely getting to him.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I needed protection from my mother. You were the easiest bet. I should not have used you for my own gain, and I am deeply sorry.” Grace did not meet his eyes.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Charles groaned. “What am I supposed to do now? I cannot have a fiancé who has been deemed a criminal by the Clave.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“You will break off your engagement with me. Publicly.” Grace did not use her power then, for she knew he would do it. “It may do some damage to me, but nothing worse than what I’ve already created. Some may talk of another failed engagement for you, only that will last a month or two before you are able to go back on the market.” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He was nodding, doing his own calculations in his mind. “Yes, yes—you’re right. That should work, though my mother will be mad at my inconsistency. However, I will work through that. Maybe I should go to another institute for the meantime, not Paris but another.” It seemed he was talking to himself more than her now. Grace offered her agreement and signed a letter noting that she was willingly ending their engagement to release Charles of his connections to her. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>The meeting ended with Charles wishing her luck in her trial. She could only thank him and fall back into her silent meditation on everything she had ruined.</em>
</p>
<p>--Present again</p>
<p>“I read your confession.” Christopher said, a hint of guilt in his voice.</p>
<p>“That is alright, I’m sure everyone in the Enclave has by now. It makes no difference to me, for I will soon be locked away for the rest of my life.” Grace answered and rested her head back against the wall with her eyes shut.</p>
<p>She felt Christopher turn to her. “Did you use your…power on me when you came to my lab?”</p>
<p>Grace opened her eyes and finally looked at him. “I did not. I would have had you not been so quick to let me in. But even when I was there, I did not want to. You are one of the few people who has ever treated me like I am capable of more than just wearing lacy dresses. It is one of the few fond memories I have of these last few months.”</p>
<p>The boy smiled at that. “I had fun as well. Only I thought the whole situation was boring for you.”</p>
<p>“Of course not!” Grace answered quicker than she wanted to. “When you have a life as lonely as mine, you learn to read to explore the world. My mother had a great many books on magic and necromancy, but the ones on science always intrigued me the most.”</p>
<p>“I’ve never met anyone other than my Uncle Henry who actually enjoys science! Now I wish I would have made you stay.” He replied, bright lilac eyes shining through his glasses.</p>
<p>Grace let herself laugh, imagining herself in an apron mixing chemicals next to Christopher. The thought warmed her frozen heart. “Thank you for your kindness, Christopher, but you should probably go before they think I have tricked you into helping me escape.”</p>
<p>His face had turned a little more serious. “Is there nothing I can do to help you?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know why you would. I have hurt your family most deeply, and I have hurt one of your closest friends.” She offered him a sad smile. “There is no help for people like me.”</p>
<p>“I do not believe that. I think that your mother made you do many things that you did not want to do. I think that you are more than what you were raised to be.” His eyes bore into hers, and he reached for her hand with tentative fingers.</p>
<p>She let him rest his palm in hers and ducked her head to hide the tears that rose up. “Please go, Christopher. Nothing you say or believe will change the fact that I have ruined everything.”</p>
<p>There was silence before he stood up, still holding her hand. “I don’t care what you say, I will find a way to help you.” And with that, he let go and left.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Trial</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Thomas pays Cordelia a visit to discuss Christopher, and Grace has her trial.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Grace was still in the sanctuary a week later; her trial having been set for the next day. There had been some delay as Will, Tessa, and James had left to find Lucie while the Consul still dealt with the aftermath of the murders. The trial would be held in the London institute, as they feared bringing any demonic attention to Idris with a large trial. She had been given a clean, white dress for the next day. Gabriel and Cecily Lightwood were the heads of the Institute while Will and Tessa were gone and told her they would have to use the Mortal Sword. However, neither knew if it would really work on her given her power. She assured them it only worked on men, not swords.</p>
<p>It was night when Thomas Lightwood came storming into the Sanctuary unaccompanied. Grace had been reading a book about chemistry that Christopher had secretly given to her a few nights ago. She carefully placed it to the side and stood up to greet her guest, falling into the façade of a proper lady.</p>
<p>“What did you do to Christopher?” Thomas immediately asked. This was the angriest Grace has ever seen him. He was usually the picture of calm.</p>
<p>However, his question made a pain go through her chest. “I didn’t use my power on him, if that’s what you’re asking.”</p>
<p>“Then why has he been going around the Enclave for the past week, campaigning for your innocence?”</p>
<p>Grace froze. Her eyes snapped to his. “He what?”</p>
<p>“Don’t play coy, I know he’s been coming here to visit you. Why did you make him do that?” His tone was full of accusation and hatred. Grace knew she deserved both of those feelings, but not for the reasons Thomas presented.</p>
<p>She shook her head again. “I promise you that I have not made Christopher do anything. In fact, I told him to stop seeing me as it will hurt his reputation if people were to find out.”</p>
<p>Thomas observed her, biting his lip. “Are you lying to me right now?”</p>
<p>“I am not lying. After all that I’ve confessed to, what good would it do to me to lie now? I already know I’m destined to be locked in the Gard for the rest of my life, so why would I ask Christopher to defend me?” Grace paused. “Did you tell him to stop?”</p>
<p>He sighed. “I tried, but Kit can be stubborn sometimes. He gets fixated on one thing and no matter how many times you ask him to stop, he will continue. You should know, his mind is not the same as ours.”</p>
<p>Grace hid a fond smile. “I know, though I think it is better.”</p>
<p>“Why did you do everything that you did?” Thomas asked abruptly.</p>
<p>This time, she tried to look him in the eye. “I will not try to justify anything that I did because it harmed too many people to be excusable.” She took a deep breath before beginning again. “I do not remember my real parents, but I remember how I felt when I met Tatianna. All I wanted to be was the perfect daughter she needed. Then Jesse became my friend and gave me all of the love my mother never did. When he died, I was heartbroken. My mother was heartbroken. Instead of grieving, she became obsessed with bringing him back. Soon enough, she pulled me into it as well with my power. I no longer wanted to be the perfect daughter. I just wanted my brother back. Since then, that has been all I ever wanted. Now I know what my own actions have done to the people around me, and I cannot say that it was at all worth it.”</p>
<p>Thomas was silent for a few moments. “My sister is dead because of your mother.”</p>
<p>Grace flinched but still looked him in the eye. “I cannot express how sorry I am, but as someone who knows how it feels to lose a sibling, I know that my apologies and condolences will never be enough. You are perfectly justified to hate me.”</p>
<p>“I can see why Christopher wants to defend you.” Thomas surprised her with his reply. “And I cannot say that I hate you.”</p>
<p>Then he left.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>--Next Day</p>
<p>The Clave had their decision. Grace stood at the front of the meeting room in her white dress with the eyes of the Enclave on her. They had watched her earlier when she held the Mortal Sword and repeated what she had told the Silent Brothers. When the Consul asked the same question, Thomas had the night before, she found herself answering the same. And she was telling the truth.</p>
<p>“Grace Blackthorn, you have been accused of performing dark magic and aiding in the murder of shadowhunters. You have pleaded guilty to these crimes, is that correct?” The Inquisitor’s voice boomed from the dais.</p>
<p>“Yes.” She answered, simply.</p>
<p>The Consul stepped up beside the Inquisitor. “In regard to practicing dark magic, the Clave finds you guilty. In regard to being an accomplice to the murder of Shadowhunters, the Clave finds you not guilty.”</p>
<p>Sound erupted in the room as Grace froze. A ringing had started in her ears, blocking out the cheers or boos. Somehow, the Inquisitor’s voice broke through.</p>
<p>“You have been sentenced to become a ward of the Clave. The Fairchilds have offered to watch over you until you become an adult at the age of eighteen. Until then, you will train to become a Shadowhunter and forever be at the mercy of the Clave.”</p>
<p>               </p>
<p>“You will go to the institute every morning to train with a tutor. There you will learn to fight and gain the necessary knowledge you will need to be a Shadowhunter. In the afternoons, you will return here and assist Mr. Branwell in his lab. Christopher told me that you enjoyed science, so I hope you will come to like living here.” Charlotte explained after giving her a tour of the house and her room.</p>
<p>“May I ask, Consul, why did you offer your home to me?” Grace asked hesitantly.</p>
<p>Charlotte turned to her with a motherly smile. “I felt that you were never offered a chance at normalcy, and I feel it is my fault for failing to reach out to Tatianna more. I fear there was so much I could have done.”</p>
<p>Please do not feel guilty, ma’am. After Rupert’s death, my mother never would have been the same. It is no one’s fault that she turned out the way she did.”</p>
<p>Grace worked to unpack her things once Charlotte left, arranging everything carefully in the closet and drawers like she had taught herself long ago. The walls were a light shade of pink and a white vanity had been set against the wall. The bed itself looked new, but there was a cradle in the corner that looked to be a few years old. She wondered if this had been Charles or Matthew’s nursery, but that did not explain the pink.</p>
<p>Mr. Branwell was not in the lab when she snuck down there, allowing her to explore more than she could when she had been there with Christopher. Everything seemed to be out of place. The floor had clearly not been cleaned in possibly months, and every surface was covered in boxes, vials, and bottles of substances. Some were labeled while others were not, leaving Grace to wonder how they got any of their experiments right.</p>
<p>She picked up a broom from the closet and began sweeping the dust into a pile. If she was going to spend the next couple of years there, she might as well make sure it looked nice.</p>
<p>Grace was too busy grimacing at a dead rat in the corner to notice that Christopher had came in through the back door. She was poking at it with the other side of the broom when he finally spoke, “Hullo, Grace!”</p>
<p>She jumped in place, nearly banging her head against the underside of the table she was crouched under. Only after dropping the broom and dusting off her skirts was she able to look at him. “Do you always sneak up on people like that?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you hadn’t heard me come in. Could I ask what you were doing on the floor?” He gave her an odd look.</p>
<p>“I was trying to sweep when I saw the dead rat in this corner and—”</p>
<p>Christopher bounded over. “Oh! That’s Reggie, I’ve been observing his pattern of decomposition for a few months.”</p>
<p>“He’s been there for months?” Grace asked, exasperated.</p>
<p>“Of course, decomposition is a long process.” Christopher answered back obliviously.</p>
<p>Grace turned back to the different tables, observing the unlabeled liquids. “And how do you discern what is what here? Only some of these have names on them.” She picked up a yellow-ish green one that had black bits in it.</p>
<p>“That is demon venom from the Shadow market.” Grace immediately set it down.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Lab</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Peak at the start of Grace and Christopher's romantic relationship</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>--Two months later</p>
<p>It had been two months since Grace’s trial, and she had fallen into a sort of normalcy. The Herondales had returned as a family a month or so ago, James and Cordelia clearly having confessed everything to each other. Matthew had been slightly irked to find that Grace had moved in, but his mother didn’t let him be mad for too long as he had his own flat.</p>
<p>The biggest change was Jesse. He had arrived back with Lucie, alive. Grace had begun to cry when she saw him for the first time. He had told her of his plans to marry Lucie and renovate Chiswick House. Jesse trained with her at the institute in the morning where Lucie would occasionally join them. Unlike before, Grace had begun to develop an actual friendship with Lucie along with Ariadne who still visited her.</p>
<p>However, her favorite time of the day was the afternoons and evenings when she would come home to find Christopher hard at work with an experiment of some kind. They had been working for the past month on developing his fire message. Grace had managed to clean the lab as well, organizing everything to have a specific place. Christopher had not enjoyed that process, objecting everytime Grace moved another vial. They had eventually compromised to Christopher labeling everything and Grace promising to get his opinion before moving anything. It had taken longer than it should have, but she knew it was better for him to slowly adjust.</p>
<p>Christopher had told her occasionally of his friends’ worries that he spent too much time with her and that she was still capable of using her power. Grace had vowed months ago to stop using it, but that never seemed to be enough.</p>
<p>Still, he was her closest friend. They spent most of their time in the lab, but he had occasionally taken her to the museums of London to see everything she had missed. On days when neither could stand being couped up in the lab, they splayed out on the grass in the backyard and discussed their different theories on mundane things. Once they had gotten into an extensive discussion on the nature of electrons while Grace painted him. She had even left a ring of them around his head in the portrait.</p>
<p>There were other times when Grace could not help but stare at him. She had always admired his eyes, but now she could really look at them and how they fit into his face. Jesse had accused her of having a crush on him to which she had thrown a knife at him. Fortunately, her aim was still terrible and it hit the wall next to him by about two feet.</p>
<p>“James brought up your power again today.” Christopher said nonchalantly as he scribbled notes on a piece of paper.</p>
<p>Grace had been practicing her sword stances on the other side of the room when she heard him. “Oh?”</p>
<p>He put his pencil down and looked at her. She met his eyes and saw that he was serious. “I don’t like how they talk about you. It isn’t right.”</p>
<p>“I understand it.” She shrugged. “I did a lot of things I am not proud of, and maybe they think I deserve more punishment than having to deal with you blowing things up everyday.” Grace smiled at her own joke. She found she was starting to smile more than she ever had in her life.</p>
<p>Christopher did not let it go. “But they’ve accepted that it was not your fault. That should be enough!”</p>
<p>Grace walked over to him and put her dull sword on the table. “People are not as simple as we would like them to be. They may forgive me or say that they understand, but there will always be a part of them that remembers what I did and will not let it go. We cannot blame others for being human. We must simply accept that they are and prove we are better than our circumstances.”</p>
<p>He looked at her in a way she hadn’t seen before. “They think that you’re using your power on me, again.”</p>
<p>“Why would they think that?” Grace tried to remember if she had asked Christopher to do anything odd in the past week but came up with nothing.</p>
<p>“Because I told them something they didn’t want to hear.” His voice was small to the point that it was a whisper, and his eyes had fallen back to his notes.</p>
<p>Grace felt her heart stutter slightly, but she knew he was not going to say what she thought. Surely, he wouldn’t. “What did you say?”</p>
<p>He turned his lilac eyes up to her as he was sitting down.</p>
<p>“Kit, what is it?” Grace whispered.</p>
<p>His hand came to her hair then her cheek, everything happening in slow motion. She could only whisper his name before their lips met. Never before had she been able to melt into a kiss. There was always something in her head nagging her that the man she was kissing did not actually want her. This was different because she had not used her power once.</p>
<p>She sat in his lap, legs to the side. His arms had moved to hold her waist as they kissed. Grace could not help but wonder where he had learn to kiss like that.</p>
<p>They broke apart moments later, breathing heavily. Grace could not tear her eyes away from his. “You never answered my question. What did you tell your friends?”</p>
<p>He gazed back at her. “I told them that I was falling in love with you.”</p>
<p>Grace pressed her lips back to his, smothering a smile.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! Let me know in the comments how you felt about Chain of Iron and what else you would like to see from me.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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